Display posts from previous

Sort by

Take part in the discussion --> here
Only submissions in this thread, please.

Hey everyone!

Welcome to the third edition of the Limit Theory Fan Contest!
This month's edition will be about exploration. Not the easiest of subjects to convey well, but I have the fullest confidence in all of yours abilities.

This contest is still discovering itself, so we're changing things up again. This month, everybody will be allowed to make two submissions. One submission can be of any type, the other has to be of a written art form. (At least for this month's contest.)
This contest will have 4 prizes. One prize is set aside for the best literary work (story, poem, ...). Three other prizes are for the top three submissions, each entrant can only win one prize.

The objective: Create art about Limit Theory.
This could be in written form as a story, lore, or a detailed idea for a mod. It could be visual like a gif, photoshop or video. Or even audio... Anyone up for a bit of stand-up about Limit Theory?
These are just a few ideas off the top of my head, but I'm sure you guys can think of a lot more. It is fine to use other games' assets in your submissions.
Rule of thumb: "Does it spotlight Limit Theory?".

The prizes:

A voucher for the £5.99 bracket on steam, gog or another (reasonable) site. (donated by Victor)

Note: if you're using another site to host content, make sure the title and comment displays that it's part of a contest submission.
This only to avoid future googles from becoming confused when looking for official content.

Judging:
Our jury of three people will judge the submissions based on the following criteria:

Originality: 30%

Aesthetic: 25%

Details: 10%

X factor: 20%

Realism according to the LT universe: 15%

Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

The cold and slow cracking of the ice field made his fingers nervously twitch on the commands. scanning the sector map for contacts. only three ships in the sector so far.

"Finally a red transfer beam" he said flicking on the engine control and turning down the long range sensors. his fingers flew over the control commands, turning on his six thermal lance engines, lurching him back in his seat. the throughy roar of his engines sprang quickly to life. the ice flow that he was hiding behind quickly was behind him as he headed towards the miner he was locked onto. he pressed a button on his glass overlay, opening a comm channel

"Surrender your freight and you wont be hurt" he said trying to put a sturdiness into his voice. the rapidly growing miner ship in his veiwport was turning towards the emptiness of space and the jump gate beyond. "Oh No You Don't" he said kicking his engine into overdrive.

A thought hit him.

there was no response, no sniviling weakling, no empowered and proud captain... nothing.
he scanned the sensors just in time to see a few spikes in the gigahertz. it was the jump signal for capital ships.

"Shaz" he spat out turning his ship in the direction of the jump gate. the foundation found this belt. the foundation was a religious crusader faction who claim worlds as their own as soon as they see them. again more contacts and this time on the opposite side of the planet. he ventured a guess that these ships were the planetary defense force for the system.

The first shot was fired that was followed by a hail of fire being poured down from either side of the planet. massive missiles, rail guns, lasers, beams and all manor of destructive apparatus were being thrown back and fourth in between asteroids and punching through ships.

The war has begun, just as it has on all other other sectors in this side of the galaxy.
He thought to himself as he bucked up and down dodging the destruction " Is there a Limit"

"Move your scouts into position to view the miners in the sector, view where they are purposely avoiding. That is more than likely where the pirates are" said the commander wit a cool stern tone.

"Yes sir" said scout leader as the scouts spread out through the asteroid field. the dust in the sector wreaked havoc on their military grade sensors reducing them to less than standard.

another chyme on the display "Found them sir shall we move in?" said the scout leader. a moment to think in a split decision on what to do was not possible. a split decision was necessary.

"No, move the main battle fleet to the opposite side of the asteroid field while the flagship will attach to an asteroid and run cold" he said with confidence.

A chorus of "Roger"s and "Yes Sir"'s sounded through the earpiece as the fleet began to move. The flagship of the fleet the "Divine Hand" used its maneuvering thrusters to park itself inside an indentation of the large asteroid in front of it. The second ship captain in command contacted him "Sir we have moved into position"

"Perfect, now push the pirates in my direction so we can end this" he said with a mixture of expectation and composure. The battle fleet detachment pushed the pirates into sensor range as he locked on with his long range missiles.

"Open Fire" he said calmly and comfortably siting in his command chair at the bridge of the flagship. the blips of the pirate's signals on his sector overlay were blinking out of existence one by one until none were left.

"Mission Complete Sir" said the detached battle fleet leader.

"Very well. Open your docking bay and deploy the scavenger drones, Chimera. We will squeeze every bit of profit from this diversion" said the commander decoupling the flagship Divine hand and rejoining the battle group. in his quarters he sat down, sipping his tea, he began to think.

"There is no limit... There is no limit that i would go to ensure the safety of my crew" he said to himself barley audible.

Traveling to the stars to explore strange and beautiful words is not for every man. Most will never leave the City - except perhaps for the 9-worlds-trip™ as honeymoon.
The logical step was to organize a sort of Zoo - for worlds. In many places in the City, there is a dome of energy. And within, with its own atmosphere and artificial gravity, there is a piece of an interesting world. This is not artificial. This is a real piece, taken out of the target world, with its animals, plants and bacterias.
Thus all can behold the beauty and glory of the universe!

This picture is taken from within the dome Nygburth IV, one of the dome one can visit with a minimal quarantine protection cloth, as the atmosphere is compatible.

Note: This picture has been generated long time ago using the wonderful 3D landscape generator Bryce. The city itself is a custom pattern using several layers (height bumps, lighting, and so on), so in a world, it is procedural . Here another example:
The software Bryce is not compatible with modern computers since about 4 years, so you can imagine this picture has not been created for this competition. I am also not able to open and edit it anymore
If this is against the rules, please consider it "outside of competition" - I thought it would fit nicely.

[edit]In case it was unclear, I did it myself, all alone. I was still young and had time for such stuff [/edit]

Last edited by CSE on Mon Oct 13, 2014 6:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

CSE wrote:The software Bryce is not compatible with modern computers since about 4 years, so you can imagine this picture has not been created for this competition. I am also not able to open and edit it anymore
If this is against the rules, please consider it "outside of competition" - I thought it would fit nicely.

The only requirement is that you made it.

Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

Entry time!
My entry is called Into The Unknown. Bonus internet cookie points for whoever recognizes the secret LT reference I put in it.
Clicky on the image to see it on my DA page where you can also download a larger version.

In a barbarous time, amidst the brewing of a second galactic war, lovers Hraden and Taiya discover that Hraden's mining hauler, Sofie, holds a terrible secret that would soon cast them into a tempestuous whirlwind of lies, betrayal and corruption. Forced to undertake a great, unsought quest, the young couple makes a desperate attempt to save themselves, their friends, and ultimately all of humanity from an inevitable destruction. Their story tells of their perilous adventures, their trials and hardships, and their unimaginable sacrifices as they struggle to master their fears and come to terms with what, and who, Sofie is.

And here's the first chapter. (At Katorone's suggestion, I'm only posting one so the judges don't have to force themselves to sit through any more than necessary.)

Small Choices

As Hraden stared into the depths, he imagined he felt a chill wind steal over him, raising goosebumps on his skin and sending shivers down his spine. It was a strange turn of phrase, not merely because there was no wind in space, but also because the air cooling systems in his old, decrepit ship had barely ever functioned. All the same, the expression seemed accurate - especially to someone like him, who had never set foot upon a planet's surface, and never felt a breeze at all. He hunched forwards and drew his jacket just a little closer to his neck as he stared out his cockpit's center window, into the darkness of the asteroid's hollow center.Why would an asteroid have a hollow center to begin with? he wondered. The miner, on edge as he was, began carefully examining the walls of the shallow shaft he'd uncovered. They lacked the smooth curves oft created by a miner's energetic transfer beam - rather, it looked as if it had been blasted out, or perhaps even mined by hand. But who would spend the time to mine an asteroid by hand?
And most importantly... who would hide two dozen human corpses inside after doing so?

~~~

The little mining hauler remained motionless as Hraden, in a mixture of horror and macabre fascination, observed the tangled forms, floating as they were before his fin-mounted floodlights. Their genders were indiscernible, their bodies nothing more than shriveled flesh stretched across bony frames, wearing otherwise untarnished Odgen military uniforms. Although fellow Odgenians, Hraden found their faces unrecognizable, but he doubted he would've known any of them anyway.
Hraden sat silently as the minutes stretched slowly onwards, pondering the mystery of the foreboding scene. The biggest question on his mind was, why hide bodies in an asteroid field? People left exposed in space dry out and freeze - it was taught even to young children, as a warning against leaving airlocks ajar or unsealed - anyone would know it.
After a good while, he straightened up in his chair and put his craft in careful reverse, the thrusters on the front of his ship lighting up the asteroid's interior - and the faces of the dead - with a faint blue glow. He couldn't afford wasting so much precious time gawking at what seemed so clearly to be a crime scene, and getting involved in something like this was the last thing he wanted. What deterred him from staying wasn't so much the prospect of interrogation or being treated as a suspect as it was fear of the authorities grounding his ship. They would be sure to lock his ship down, and possibly even imprison him to keep him from fleeing - it would ruin him. He was a miner, and if he didn't bring back ore, he couldn't make a living, he couldn't rent his dock, and he couldn't keep his ship.
And yet, before he turned his ship back towards the void, Hraden's conscience compelled him to at least mark the site, hoping that perhaps it would give their families some closure. Reaching forwards, he tapped a few buttons near the top of his console. With a bright flash of yellow light, a steel beacon spike fired from beneath his left wing, embedding itself deep within the asteroid's outer shell, the back end pulsing a metallic blue. The warm, charitable feeling it gave him soon faded from his thoughts as his ship spun and started back into the permeating orange glow of the Termang asteroid field, his course set for Odgen station.
Partly because he felt a little peckish, and partly to get his mind off things, Hraden reached over behind his chair and pulled a D-ration from his lunch bag, biting into a corner of the brownish-gray bar. A few quick flips of switches on his pilot's chair, and soothing music soon washed over him, gently rinsing the horrors he'd borne witness to from his mind. Chewing slowly, he leaned back into the soft leather, closing his eyes and letting the ration's wrapper fall forgotten to the floor... yet the discomforted frown still refused to leave his lips.

Hraden intended to arrive at the market little earlier than the other miners, while the cash pool for the day was still high and Sturgium ore was still in high demand. His cargo hold wasn't quite full, and he was anything but an experienced miner, but he'd learned that if you wanted to get ahead, you had to play the system a little. Most Odgenians would find someone of this mindset disagreeable. If you mentioned Odgen to almost any traveled individual in the star cluster, it would immediately bring to their mind an image of a rough, homespun figure - dark eyes, light skin, and brown hair. Such a well-traveled individual might also helpfully add that Odgenians are known for being hard workers that value tradition and the security of their comfort zones above all else.
For the most part, Hraden matched up to these expectations. The primary difference was: he hated Odgen. He hated the confinement of its worn, grimy corridors, and he hated the slumlike conditions created by cramming two million people - far beyond standard population limits - into such a station. Most of all, he hated how people were so accustomed to and accepting of their situation. None of them had even the slightest desire to look to the stars. None of them wanted to explore beyond their borders. Not a single one among them - at least, not any that he'd met - wanted out. They were comfortable with their imprisonment - and when it came right down to it, that's what it was: a prison. While all were free to leave, few of them were rich enough to afford the means, and even those fortunate enough to own ships - such as himself - would find themselves shunned and disrespected wherever they went. Odgenians were known far less for their intelligence than they were for their old folk tales and myths, even to the extent that they were looked upon as whimsical and superstitious.

~~~

Much to his annoyance, it wasn't long before Hraden found that despite how much as he tried to forget it, his mind continued returning to the puzzle he'd unearthed earlier that day. Why would someone bury their victims in an asteroid field? Even the Jormagnun mafia, planetborn as they were, knew better. The best way to dispose of an incriminating corpse was to send its coffin into the nearest star, chuck it into a wormhole, or even leave it drifting in deep space. The universe is vast - far more vast than any planetborn seemed to realize - one would only need to kick the body out an airlock and leave. The chances of anyone ever finding it would be practically zero. Even if someone did, the chance of it being traced to you in particular was even lower. After all... in a galaxy where sentients numbered in the trillions, in a universe that was theoretically infinite, how could you find the guilty party among so many?
His thoughts were gently interrupted by a voice sounding in the cabin - the soft, feminine tones of his ship's AI: "Thirty minutes to Odgen Station." It was helpful and unobtrusive, yet it still pulled Hraden from his musings enough for him to open his eyes and look around.
The Termang asteroid cluster's dusty orange hue filled his darkened cockpit with a dim, ambient glow. While outsiders always seemed to find it beautiful or menacing, to Hraden it was as familiar and unworthy of note as the hairs on his arm. Rather, its familiarity and comfort helped him think.
With a sigh, he leaned forwards, elbows on his knees, and rested his chin in his hands in mild irritation. No sooner had he, though, than his AI spoke once more. "Craft detected on intersect trajectory, ETA two minutes."
Termang was hardly a popular ground for pirates, so Hraden wasn't worried in the slightest - he was in fact rather uninterested - but there were rules on protocol he couldn't ignore. "Highlight," he ordered his computer aloud, and a small blue circle flashed into existence with a soft chime on the viewscreen to his left. Unfortunately, a quick glance in that direction informed him that something was wrong - though he could barely see the ship from this distance, he could definitely make out red plasma flashes.
Complicating matters further, his comm system crackled to life, a voice shouting in desperation: "Someone, anyone, please! I'm an Odgen miner, I'm under attack by Scathecrow pirates! My starboard engine's failing, my targeting system's busted, shields are gone! Please, if you can hear me, I need help!! Please, anyone!!! I'm in trouble and I need help!"

So then, just as it always did, it came down to a decision: Should he charge into a fight where he would almost certainly be outnumbered, and attempt to save his fellow miner, or should he use the time he had to get away?
The longer he'd lived, the more he'd realized that these small choices are what make life what it is. They're pivotal points in the flow of time - everything hinges around them - your choices are what limit what you're capable of. He'd made a major choice seventeen years before at the tender age of nine, when he'd told his father that he wasn't going to follow in his footsteps as a hull repairman. He'd made another nine years after that, when his father had disowned him for refusing to leave his girlfriend, and yet another four years after later when he'd traded his apartment and life savings for the old, broken down trash heap he'd turned back into a ship through weeks of careful work. It always came down to a decision.
Even so... even despite his twenty-six years of experience, Hraden didn't understand - he didn't realize - what a critical decision he was making when he banked his hauler hard left to intercept the allied craft. As he spurred the throttle to the maximum with a flick of his wrist, subsequently feeling himself forced deep into the leather of his chair by the vehicle's acceleration, he was setting events in motion that would change the course of history not just for a single hapless miner, not just for a few random pirates, but for the entire galaxy.
As the gap closed between him and the enemy, circling like buzzards around their prey, a dark storm menaced on the horizon... yet even if he'd known, Hraden wouldn't have cared. He was desperate for adventure - desperate to escape to the stars beyond the social prison that entrapped him.

He wanted to explore.

Last edited by Talvieno on Fri Nov 14, 2014 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

My non-literary entry - basically a desktop background; a remake of the smaller image above that took far more time to perfect than I expected.Termang Spacescape

I was hoping specifically to make an image that really screamed "explore me!" while still capturing the essence of Termang. The above is a heavily modified screenshot from the last LT dev video, chosen specifically for its layout.

A good story, with lots of great details and very true to the Limit Theory universe. However, it was quite short, and some points were deducted for poor grammar.

Short paragraphs and some bad grammer took away from my reading experience. That been said, I would love it if you continue writing these kinds of stories.

Short and simple, not great but not bad either. The idea that it was a religious faction intrigued me though, I wish you had gone into a little more length.

Short and sweet. The story painted a very vivid picture of what was going on. Enough detail to get the feeling of what was happening, but enough left out to really let your imagination run wild. I like it.

Catsu - The Hunt

I like the way this story serves as a companion to Catsu's other entry. Still, the grammar and spelling lets down the wonderful story by spoiling the immersion factor somewhat.

Short but sweet. I'm eager to see your future entries and how your storytelling and style evolves.

I liked this story more than the other one, it had a good suspenseful buildup to it, but just having a “mission complete” was a bit anticlimactic.

Unfortunately, because of reading A Pirate's Story prior to this entry (both in the thread and for judging) this story comes off as a little unpolished. Still decent, but it feels more like the appetizer to the previous story's main course in terms of content, feel, and vision.

Talvieno - Small Choices

A fantastic start to your book. I'm now among those waiting anxiously for new chapters.

A first chapter to an epos. Magnificient work. And you included a PDF!

Absolutely Fantastic! You really do have a firm grip on the writer’s craft. I assure you, I will be reading the rest of your story too!

Absolutely amazing. After judging is complete, I will be reading the rest of what's out there. I really don't have anything else to say.

Echo - Echo's entry

I really enjoyed this entry - I feel like it really captured the exploration theme of this month's contest.

A Bay-esque interpretation of exploration. Very well done. I was missing some details in this entry, but they might have been obfuscated by the saturation.

I liked it, was a bit on the empty side though, I hope exploration has more action and excitement than that. It was pretty though

I can tell that a lot of hard work went into this. The music doesn't seem to fit the style of video, but none-the-less it still feels epic.

Shuul - Captain watching

Shuul is a truly gifted artist, and it shows in this piece. A beautiful aesthetic reminiscent of a scene from Mass Effect.

The shadows really make this drawing something special.

I don’t have the slightest idea what that anomaly is, so it’s an enigma as well as an anomaly But whatever it is, it makes me want to find out!

I liked this one too. The attention to detail on the lighting is magnificent. This really does give the feeling of 'What did I just find'?

CSE - Untitled entry

I love the idea of the alien planetary zoo, and the image captures it perfectly. I found it hard to make out details of the city itself in some places, but overall this is one of my favourite entries.

Amazing vista. At first glance it's hard to make out what I'm seeing, but after a while it all clicks into place.

Very Interesting concept, I would love to see something like this on colonies. I find the way it’s rendered a bit jarring, but I can see a lot of time and effort was put into all the details, very nice.

I'm completely blown away by the level of detail on this. This is a really great example of enough detail to provide a stunning aesthetic that really has me wanting to zoom in on a higher resolution version of this. Absolutely gorgeous.

Lum - Beyond

A stunning starscape. If it weren't for all the planets, I could almost see this being mistaken for a Limit Theory screenshot.

I'd put this as my desktop background. It has nebulea, planetary rings and spaceships! In this picture I'm missing an indication what the ships are doing out there.

Very pretty, but I don't really get any feeling of exploration, I wish you had something more than just ships with a pretty backdrop which could convey something more than just spaceships are zipping through space.

Another great quality work with great detail. If I had only one complaint, it would be the fact that it doesn't feel very original. But, the details really work to pull that back together so that it still looks great.

Bfett - Vertfield

High points for LT-verse realism. However, I thought the colours could have been more appealing.

This image could have been so much more with some lighter colours and some blending. I applaud your effort for making this, I'm just not in love with it.

It’s not the prettiest of entries, but it is compelling and really gives that feeling of what I think exploring will be like in LT

With all that we've seen regarding a HUD in LT, it feels as though this one is disregarding it quite a bit. Despite that, I feel as though the re-imagining is well done. I know it's still a better interface than if I had tried to make one.

Dinosawer - Into the unknown

I liked the design of the cockpit, and the way that you included HUD elements actually added to the aesthetics of the image rather than distracting from them.

Amazing. You asked for feedback and enhanced your work after receiving some.

Interesting piece, pretty and compelling. You really seem to have put a lot of work into this and it shows. The spherical projection doesn’t quite work out, but thats pretty tough to do by hand, great effort though!

I must admit, I have been growing to really enjoy this art style. Definitely a lot of effort went into this, but somet of the aspects of the struts of the 'fishbowl' really caught my eye and kept me from seeing nothing but beauty. It is definitely difficult trying to get the field of view correctly from a skewed angle when dealing with curves.

HowSerendipitous - Competition Thingy 2

Fantastic Soundtrack! A perfect complement to a great journey of exploration!

Another high quality entry! My only remark would be the sometimes jagged movement of the fighter. In some places it didn't feel smooth or natural.

Another piece of brilliant work. These are great!

Wow. Unfortunately, it just didn't have the same 'oomph' as the first couple entries by HS had to me. Maybe it's because I'm expecting something even more? I'm not sure, but I do know it was incredibly well put together and thought out as well. It just didn't seem to resonate with me this time.

Talvieno - Termang Spacescape

You lose points on originality for simply reworking a LT screenshot. However, you have done some good work on it removing the HUD while preserving the details.

A nice vista I hope to someday encounter in LT, sadly little points for originality. Points for aesthetics and your eye for detail though!

Beautiful, but I am compelled to give it low originality marks in an effort to be fair to the other contestants. LT is stunningly beautiful and nothing could be more realistic to LT than a screenshot, but being honest, it is riding pretty heavily on Josh’s work. Your modifications to the original are impressive though.

Ultimately it's still just a screenshot that's been modified. It fits as a cover of the story well, but on it's own it just doesn't hold its ground.